


for a time

by chaoticlywise



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Introspection, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Peter Parker is a Mess, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:06:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23513599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaoticlywise/pseuds/chaoticlywise
Summary: After four grueling hours of battle and war and pain, they’d managed to pull it off. Their advisories had been formidable, more aliens from outer space thinking they could win, thinking maybe they could make a fool of Thanos. Still, they’d defeated them, saved the planet once again.But, Tony wondered-“Mr. Stark, it hurts-”-at what cost?Or:During battle, Peter gets hurt. Later, Tony thinks about the kid and is Soft™️.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 1
Kudos: 132





	for a time

They’d won. Of course they had, they were the Avengers. They did what was right even if it meant getting hurt - or worse. 

After four grueling hours of battle and war and pain, they’d managed to pull it off. Their advisories had been formidable, more aliens from outer space thinking they could win, thinking maybe they could make a fool of Thanos. Still, they’d defeated them, saved the planet once again. 

But, Tony wondered- 

“Mr. Stark, it hurts-”

-at what cost?

oOo

It’s Peter. Because of course it’s Peter. 

Why did it have to be him? The self sacrificing idiot. 

Why was the kid - always the kid - the one laying in the hospital bed with multiple gunshot wounds when it should’ve been him?

It should’ve been him. He should be dead. 

oOo

“Mr. Stark.”

Peter’s voice seeks him out as it always seems to, raspy and thick with blood. The sounds of deafening silence seeps into his subconscious and the after-battle cleanup halts to a jarring stop. He doesn’t want to turn around.

He does it anyway. For him.

Peter stands there, holding his stomach like he’s trying to keep everything together - everything inside - and tears start to slip.

He’s not sure who starts crying first but he knows that when a sob tears through Peter, the pain must overwhelm him and he collapses to his knees with a cry of anguish.

Commotion erupts and Tony is kneeling next to Peter, words instinctively babbling out of his mouth to try to comfort him, to try to fix this situation. 

Because that’s what he does, right? He fixes things.

“Mr. Stark,” Peter cries, voice breaking and face scrunching up in unimaginable agony. “It hurts.”

oOo

Wakanda is beautiful. 

Beautiful and advanced.

And that’s why Peter’s here. 

Tony can’t help but think that, if Peter were conscious, he would love it here. He’d be in his own geek version of Disney World. 

As it is, however, he can’t.

The doctors take good care of him, better than they could at the Compound even. They always floundered with him because although he was similar to Steve, he wasn’t the same. Injuries had to be taken seriously due to how quickly they started to heal: bullets could heal inside his body, broken bones left unset would reform, still fractured. 

They figured out they had, at most, a two hour period in between the injury that it wouldn’t start to heal. One time, Peter had let a knife stay in his side thinking it would be better to keep it there until he could get to the Compound so he wouldn’t bleed out. He hadn’t, of course, but the flesh around the knife had healed around it, taking it in as another appendage. That had been a nightmare to fix. 

Tony couldn’t imagine trying to get three more bullets out of Peter’s stomach with only 55 minutes to spare. 55 minutes until Peter’s body started to react and heal.

oOo

Tony’s been kidnaped and tortured. He’s had a car battery stuck in his chest. He’s watched countless people die. Watch people he loves barely slip out of his grasp and fall, fall, fall-

And this is the worst pain he’s ever felt. 

He scratches his head harshly, eyes squeezed shut, trying to get the sounds of Peter’s weak protests and images of his hands gripping Tony’s arms as he’s dragged away for medical assistance out of his mind. The pained wheezing and desperate calls for Tony to stay by his side. 

All while they’re being torn away from each others grasps.

He feels crazy. Insane. He can never unhear or unsee the true suffering on Peter’s face before they drug him with enough medicine to finally put him out. 

Peter hates needles. Damn the kids metabolism.

oOo

“Tony,” a soft voice calls from down the hall. He looks up and sees a young lady - Shuri, if he remembers correctly - approaching him. Beside him, May, Rhodey, and Happy all stand to meet her, clambering to hear news of their boy. She smiles gently and sits next to Tony, resting her hands atop his. “Tony,” she asks again, waiting for him to look at her. “He’s alive. He’s going to make it.”

Tony’s world spins. Relief spills into his gut and he feels nauseous at the comforting words; his kid was going to live. 

“He’s in recovery,” she goes onto say. “He’s still sleeping but with his metabolism, it shouldn’t be more than a few hours before it all wears off. He’ll want someone there.”

oOo

Tony watches Peter sleep. It’s comforting, watching the way his chest rises and falls with a deep, steady rhythm. 

May, Happy, and Rhodey are out right now, all making their way to the cafeteria to grab something and then come right back. Rhodey insisted he come with but relented when Tony said he’d eat whatever they brought back for him. 

The other Avengers, the ones that weren’t so close to the kid, still stayed. Steve had waited for news about the kid along with Natasha, Sam, Clint, even Wanda and Vision. Not with them, of course. They weren’t a part of this family. Not when they could still put Peter in danger. Not when Tony still didn’t - couldn’t - trust them.

Tony looks back down to Peter from where he’d been staring off into space, falling deep into a pit of self-loathing and depression. He looks peaceful. 

Tong watches and watches and watches, making sure his breathing stays steady and he doesn’t start moving too much until-

Peter’s eyes move behind his lids, lashes fluttering against his cheeks. Tony’s breath catches and his hand goes to rest atop Peter’s, encouraging him lightly to wake up.

The lights in the room are dim but with how long Peter’s been out, it’s probably just the wrong amount of too much for his enhanced senses. Tony slips over to the light controller and dims it even more, just enough to be able to see when Peter’s eyes open, shiny and bright yet hooded.

“Mm,” Peter mumbles, squeezing his eyes shut and then opening them again, trying to adjust. “Tony?”

“Yeah, it’s me kid,” Tony assures. “I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere.”

Peter nods sleepily and looks around, confusion dawning on his face. Tony feels soft and light in all the best ways watching this precious kid. 

“Where are we?” Peter asks, looking to him with all the trust in the world. 

“Wakanda,” Tony answers. At Peter’s surprised expression, he goes on to explain. “T’Challa offered to bring you here, and we knew you didn’t have much time.”

“Huh,” Peter sighs, looking out the large floor-to-ceiling windows. “It’s dark outside,” Peter notes. 

“Yup,” Tony murmurs. “It’s been a few hours.” 

Peter nods and stifles a large yawn. His eyes droop and his movements become lethargic. Tony places his hands over Peter’s again. 

“Go back to sleep, kiddo,” he says. “Everything will still be here tomorrow when you wake up again.”

Peter nods and it doesn’t take more than five minutes for him to be out again. Tony continues his vigil, even when the others come back.

He knows that, for a time, Peter will be hurt and healing and dealing with everything that happened. But they would be there for him when he needs them and even when he doesn’t. When he smiles and when he cries, they would be there to hold him and celebrate and mourn with him. 

But for now, Tony watches over him, protecting him like he always has, like he always will even when the time comes that the roles will be reversed. He will keep him safe, even if it’s the last thing he ever does.

**Author's Note:**

> this was so different than anything I’ve ever written before. introspection is kinda hard for me but I decided it was time to make a fic and this is what happened. most of my fics are really dialogue heavy and i didn’t want this one to be like that so i think that’s where the introspection kinda came from. i definitely wrote this at 3am when the creative juices are at their most flowy but it also means that some of it may not make the most since. what’re ya gonna do, ya feel?
> 
> ANYWHO, i really hoped y’all enjoyed this, i haven’t been writing a lot recently (aka i took an accidental year long break bc of school and my mental health going down the drain) so this doesn’t necessarily mean i’ll be uploading fics a whole lot more but it definitely means this is a start. so thank you for reading, comments and kudos are always appreciated, and i would love to know what you guys think!! HAVE A LOVELY DAY<3


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